I throw the cross with the weight on my back foot, otherwise I find myself going off balance when throwing the punch. Sometimes I'll overcommit and sort of dive into the cross and the weight will come off my back foot, but at those times I'm off balance and not as able to quickly throw another punch or move around well.

By power punch, I mean the big, straight right if you are fighting in an orthodox stance.

I tend to be an outside fighter and I tend to put most of my weight on the front foot when throwing the straight right. The right foot pivots on the ball, but the right heel is lifted.

I've recently been working out with someone who does it completely differently. He is short and stalky and a strong inside fighter.

He actually shifts the weight to his back(right) foot when throwing the straight right. His right foot still pivots on the ball, but his heel barely leaves the floor.

I've tried it and for reasons I don't quite comprehend the shift in weight from front to back during the puch seems to give extra power. It just goes against the way I was taught.

Does anyone else punch like this?

Is it an inside fighter's punch exclusively?

Umm can you both be half right? :eusa_danc .

Ok so it's all balance. Except for the moment of impact you should be as close to 50/50 as you can be. If your weight is on your front leg you're leaning too forward. Can you throw follow up punches and be stable after that big right? Too far back and you don't get the power you need.

This is how I do it. I don't word good so let me know if this isn't clear.

What you want to do is "sit" down into the punch. You should flex at the knees in stance, as you do you'll feel the hip rotation, especially as you flex your right knee. That's the wind up and the follow up is throwing the punch. THe heel has to come up as your hips and upperbody rotate.

Edit - extra power comes from dropping your weight into the punch. Like with a hard jab you're leaning your entire weight into the blow,

Last edited by PirateJon; 2/07/2006 4:02pm at .

You can't make people smarter. You can expose them to information, but your responsibility stops there.

Ok so it's all balance. Except for the moment of impact you should be as close to 50/50 as you can be. If your weight is on your front leg you're leaning too forward. Can you throw follow up punches and be stable after that big right? Too far back and you don't get the power you need.

This is how I do it. I don't word good so let me know if this isn't clear.

What you want to do is "sit" down into the punch. You should flex at the knees in stance, as you do you'll feel the hip rotation, especially as you flex your right knee. That's the wind up and the follow up is throwing the punch. THe heel has to come up as your hips and upperbody rotate.

So many methods, so little time.

I don't find having the weight on the front foot to be problematical. It's stable. It's balanced. It lets me throw the punch and slip to the left at the same time. It enables be to pivot out, either to the right or left.

It also enables me to drive my 225 lbs foward which gives power. It also enables me to close the distance from the outside.

Reasons it would suck:

It doesn't really work if I start at close range.

If there are sweeps with the feet involved, I'm toast.

Now that you mention it, it makes a follow up hook difficult.

I'll give that 50-50 thing a try in addition to the shifting-the-weigh-back thing.

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Push with rear (right) foot, step left and forward with lead foot to open up hips, allowing full hip twist. Weight is shifting forward as I step forward with the punch. As left foot drops, right fist gets extension, and weight shifts forward and drops a bit. Body weight+twist/hip torque+extension = power.

So, upon landing, my weight goes forward to my lead leg. It's not a drastic shift, but maybe 60-40. Since I drop my center of gravity a little, I don't feel tippy in the slightest, and am prepared to throw a second power punch with my left. Hook or bolo punch usually.

I think my weight distribution comes from my originally getting used to fighting with a very traditional thai stance where almost all the weight is kept on the back leg. Keeping a lot of weight on the front leg makes me more vulnerable to pick kicks/front leg sweeps, and makes checking kicks a little slower (FOR ME).